Well. I've been away doing life-y things for the past many months but I recently decided to rebuild the Phobian Marines. The army starts to ditch the old militaristic organized feel in favor of a more BrikWarsy approach to the private army of a galactic overlord. Figured I'd grab everyone's attention by first showing off Umbra's updated look and new weapon. Enjoy.That there is Umbra's 'hand-forged' Orange Transparent Battle-Halberd. I don't even know what kind of stats to give it but I was going for large, unwieldy, and badass.His second-in-command is Sir Siegfried von . Everything about this man was perfectly normal until he was shot with one of Umbra's Maniac Beer-filled spray guns. He was then transformed into this officer. His cane-flail is extremely large, as is his Metal Gun. His personal guard is the METAL Team, created by the same process. The love large axes, and one of them is even a hardcore viking. I might give the viking the white axe instead. They're shown below.These guys are just common footsoldiers. Only two squads right now; need some more helmets.These are the Green Berets of the common infantry, a hardcore group of badasses hand-picked by Umbra himself. They are commonly called Smile Squadron because of their leader, Sergeant Smiley.Two snipers. The one is more stealthy-looking, the other is more big rifle-y.Scout team. Have no idea what their purpose is really, maybe driving ground vehicles.Team of pilots. They're unarmed but that's only because they pilot the big weapon-covered air vehicles.Really awful picture but these are the psychotic munchkins of Gravitox 5. Their planet was conquered by Umbra's army, and the planet's immense gravitational pull makes them short but ridiculously strong. They proudly wear whatever suits their mood.Jump Troopers, same as before.Commando squad is back, this time with a new leader who favors her gunblade while her subordinates tote around the heavy bolters.Zone Troopers from last time got a slight upgrade in the form of rebuilt chemical rifles. Won't throw up more pics for infantry but the Anti-Vehicular Trooper and the Flamethrower guy are still in. Also not pictured is the Olympian Dreadnought, which hasn't changed any.Vehicles, yay! This is the Wasp Light Interceptor, Which boasts a fairly powerful rail cannon mounted underneath. The rail cannon is so powerful it actually kicks the fighter backwards when fired.This is the Walrus, a jeep-type vehicle so named for the strange front design. Its Orange Transparent Windshield renders the passengers fairly hard to hit, making for a safe afternoon ride through the battlefield.This is the Vulture Interceptor, which has four blast cannons; two on the main hull, and a twin-linked pair on each wing. The wings can be jettisoned for extra mobility. Note the Orange Transparent Windshield again.The Valkyrie MkIII. Originally the Mockingbird, the MkIII was rechristened as the next evolution of the original Valkyrie series of heavy fighters, and upgraded to fighter-bomber status. The payload pictured is a maniac beer-filled warhead attached to a medium-sized bomb. The Valkyrie also has twin-linked blast cannons on the front, as well as a light laser cannon and lance cannon on each 'wing'.Last entry is the Stalker MkII, since the Olympian was not pictured and wasn't altered since it's last appearance. The Stalker now boasts a more powerful magnetic cannon, and nothing else really changed.

Alcatraz wrote:Get a better camera man. Those pics are more grainy than a sandbox.

Well it's grainy because it's an iPhone. It was 1am and I didn't feel like rattling things around for a legit camera Thanks, I'm trying to give these guys some more bulk in the cannon fodder department but I'm completely out of helmets unless I completely abandon the red. I have like three helmets left and they're white, blue, and a camo green that I spraypainted eons ago. And despite the badassery of rejecting protection, I don't think bald marines would help the aesthetic.

The new set up is pretty sweet. I'm digging the new Snipers, the Stalker, and Commando Squad, ESPECIALLY the gunblade. I've been trying to make one of those for awhile, without modifying any bricks though.

Good to be back. I did replace Umbra's OT Halberd because I'm not exactly sure it fits. It's nice and huge and badass but I want him to be more visceral and close-up in combat. Halberds are like the coward's battleaxe in this army. Now it's just a 40k-looking OTC with a smg-type thing as a sidearm.

The gunblade was easy enough to make, I'm one to at least try to be purist before going custom (same with a Cloud Strife sword I worked on). It's just a shotgun with the barrel replaced by a megablox katana from one of the Halo sets, which are the only clone brand kits I have and will ever buy. Plus I don't come across katanas often so cutting a Lego one would just be wrong.

When I get this one friend of mine to build an army I'll post a battle report; I would now but it'd be rather lackluster with just 8 stormtroopers, Vader, and a bunch of medieval guys against the Phobian forces. I mean I could... Another campaign idea I have is making Manly Fucking Santa the chief antagonist. I have an idea that involves him delivering presents via kicking down the door like a Navy Seal and firing presents out of a rocket launcher.

And yes, it was the lighting. The tan of the walls mixed with the yellowish light result in shitty lighting.